Charlize Theron kills it in Atomic Blonde redband trailer (NSFW)

Not too long ago we saw Charlize Theron battle alongside Tom Hardy in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ and next month we’ll see her lead Vin Diesel to the dark side in ‘Fast & Furious 8’ – but it’s been some time since she’s headlined an ass-kicking action epic of her own.

Well, fear not, because based on this new trailer, we can expect ass-kicking action in abundance from Theron in ‘Atomic Blonde.’

An adaptation of 2012 graphic novel ‘The Coldest City,’ this high-octane spy movie casts the ‘Monster’ Oscar-winner as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton, who – as Toby Jones tells us in the trailer (not that it isn’t already self-apparent) – is quite the expert in hand-to-hand combat.

When numerous undercover agents turn up dead, Broughton is sent out to Berlin to take out the shady forces responsible. Here she is teamed up, uneasily from the look of things, with James McAvoy’s agent David Percival (McAvoy more in ‘Filth’ than ‘X-Men’ mode) – and also enters into what looks to be a considerably more comfortable liason with a French operative, played by Sofia Boutella of ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ (and soon ‘The Mummy’).

Theron hasn’t taken the lead in a film of this nature since 2005 much-maligned ‘Æon Flux,’ but her work since – ‘Fury Road’ in particular have more than made amends for that misfire. She’s well overdue a lead role like this, and – slightly ropey British accent aside – it looks like she’s going to do an absolutely bang-up job here.

Of course, Theron is not the only key party of interest here, as ‘Atomic Blonde’ marks the solo debut of David Leitch, co-director of ‘John Wick’ – who is now set to take the helm on ‘Deadpool 2.’ If anyone was wondering whether Leitch would prove a good fit for that eagerly anticipated sequel, let’s see: heavily stylised ultra-violence, ribald sense of humour, multiple drops of the F-bomb… yep, all the key factors seem to be in place.

Now that it’s flown directly into your 2017 must-see list, you might like to know that ‘Atomic Blonde’ premieres this weekend at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and opens in the US in July, before finally making its way to UK cinemas on 11 August. Phew, it’s going to be a long five months…

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